Comfort Seeker
by Timonx3
Summary: Wolf was shocked when he found at that Alex Rider was, at least when he slept, a contact-seeker. ONESHOT.


**I've not idea where this came from. I swear.  
...well, it could have something to do with my little brother currently trying to smother me. He's asleep. Oh, yeah, that probably _is _what brought this on...  
I should be writing Temporary, yes. But I'm working on it. Plus, I'm not even at home! xO I'm in a land far, far away...  
Ey, it's not slash! I know, I'm surprised too.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider or his friends.  
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Wolf was shocked when he found out that Alex Rider was, at least in his sleep, a contact-seeker.

It was a bit awkward, with the kid shifting closer with each deep breath, until he was almost lying _on top_ of Wolf.

The man wasn't sure what to do with his right arm; with Cub lying closely like that, it was either letting the arm remain where it was, straight out, uncomfortably still and almost poking out of the tent, or draping it around the teen's shoulder.

The tent was quite small, but during the survival courses, comfort was the last thing you could expect. It was more important to be able to carry as many things as possible, and still be able to move around quickly and quietly, without your knees giving out under you.

And it wasn't a little weight you had on your back... which was why Wolf had, as Snake had put it, "taken responsibility" for Cub, and made sure the kid got the smallest tent, so that it would be at least a little easier.

Though no one got to have an own tent. And Eagle had stubbornly "claimed" Snake, refusing to share a tent with anyone else. Tiger, not willing to share a place to sleep with Wolf – the poor guy was still slightly intimidated by the unit leader – had quickly chosen to stick with Eagle and Snake.

So the the three of them – Eagle, Snake and Tiger – were scrambled together in a slightly bigger tent (though none of the men were small nor especially short – Eagle was rather tall, even – so a bigger tent didn't help them much), while Wolf got stuck with Alex in a small tent.

It was quite unexpected that Cub would seek comfort in his sleep. During daytime when the kid was awake and aware, he was independent, serious, stubborn, a bit cold and very sarcastic – when he actually spoke, that is. He looked and acted much older than his sixteen years.

Wolf had seen some of the scars – the mere thought of the bullet wound made him angry; who the _hell_ would let a _teenager_ get hurt like that!? _Shot_! In the bloody _heart_! – and he knew a little of what the kid had been through. Though, if you asked Wolf, he knew far too little... though she Sergeant _was_ working on getting Cub's file, what with the kid being stuck at Brecon Beacons until he was eighteen...

Anyway. The kid was like a whole other person when asleep; he looked so much younger, more vulnerable and human. Wolf knew Alex had nightmares every now and then – they slept in the same place, hard not to notice, even in the barrack's with night exercises going on outside, Eagle's snoring, Snake's muttering and Tiger's constant tossing around in the bed.

Because you could tell the kid was having nightmares when he was completely silent.

Didn't move, didn't mutter nor murmur and even the breaths were hard to hear.

Normally, Alex would murmur something quietly, every ten minutes and change position at least once every three hours. Wolf knew because he had trouble sleeping sometimes. Plus, he was the unit's leader, it was a part of his job to know his unit entirely...

Alex murmured something incoherently that almost sounded like some sort of whine, and snuggled even _closer_ to Wolf, whose eyes widened. Oh, god, this couldn't be happening...

But then the kid spoke again, and Wolf could actually make out the name.

"Jack..."

Wait... wait... Jack? Wolf frowned. That's a man's name, right?

Then he remembered the time when he'd overheard Ben talk with Cub a couple of weeks ago, when the kid had just gotten there; it'd been about some Jack... Cub's guardian, right? And how she'd... died... god.

Wolf's face softened, and he looked down at the sleeping teen with an expression not of pity, but something akin to sympathy mixed with sadness. But it wasn't _pity_.

He would never have done that face if the kid was awake. God, no.

It was just that... this kid, Cub – Alex Rider – his life was so... sad. Tragedy from the very beginning; Wolf had heard about Cub's parents, that they'd died when he was just a baby. Then his uncle died, MI6 recruited him and the missions since... it was nothing the kid himself had said, it was Ben who, in a moment of desperation and distress had just... babbled.

He had been going on and on about how unfair everything was, especially when it came to Alex; the mission he, Ben, and Alex had met on and worked together... Mrs Jones had revealed, afterwards, the identity of the man Ben had shot.

Ash – Wolf thought that was a rather strange name – had worked for MI6 and later on, ASIS. He had also been a double-agent, working for Scorpia as well. And he had been the one responsible for the death of Cub's parents.

But he had been Alex's godfather as well.

And _that_ was that made Ben feel so guilty, so mean, and was what had brought everything on to start with.

Scorpia had done one last thing, before they fell and dimnished into a vague, whispered, wicked sort of legend – and that had been killing Jack Starbright.

Wolf sighed lightly – he didn't dare to breathe deeply, fearing he'd wake the kid – and closed his eyes briefly.

His arm was getting stiff already. Not to mention cold. And if something deep, deep inside of Cub drove him to seek comfort, he shouldn't complain, right? It was actually rather good that the kid hadn't withdrawn entirely. Wolf should be happy, pleased.

But it was _damn hard_ with the kid snuggling up by his side like that.

After another couple of minutes, Wolf growled something he'd "picked up" at the camp, and wrapped his arm around the teen's shoulder. It was for warmth, damn it.

Besides, he could always remove his arm before Alex woke up.  
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**Have you any idea how tempted I was to have Alex saying some other name, instead of Jack? xD I _almost _turned into a slash there. Almost.**


End file.
